An optical coherence tomography apparatus is known as an ophthalmic imaging apparatus for imaging a subject's eye. The optical coherence tomography apparatus can acquire cross-sectional images and three dimensional images of the eye fundus, the anterior eye segment, etc. by using optical coherence tomography (OCT). Further, the data acquired by the optical coherence tomography apparatus is utilized for an analysis process for grasping the state or condition of the subject's eye (see, for example, Patent Document 1 below).
Examples of the analysis process include the analysis of the thickness of a layer tissue of an eye fundus (fundus layer thickness analysis, for short). In the fundus layer thickness analysis, the generation of the thickness distribution of a predetermined layer tissue, the comparison with a normal eye database, or the like is carried out. The layer tissue to be analyzed is, for example, the retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL), the ganglion cell layer (GCL), the composite layer (GCL+) of the ganglion cell layer and the inner plexiform layer (IPL), the composite layer (GCL++) of the ganglion cell layer, the inner plexiform layer, and the retinal nerve fiber layer, or the like.
[Patent Document 1] Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2012-161426
In some cases, it may be desirable to perform the analysis process over a wide region. For example, in the fundus layer thickness analysis relating to glaucoma, it is desirable to cover both a peripheral region of the optic nerve head and a region including the fovea centralis. In the conventional technique, the data collection for the peripheral region of the optic nerve head and the data collection for the region including the fovea centralis are performed separately from each other, and the two pieces of collected data are individually analyzed. Furthermore, in many conventional techniques, the result of the analysis for the peripheral region of the optic nerve head and the result of the analysis for the region including the fovea centralis are presented as separate pieces of data. Therefore, it is difficult to grasp the state of the fundus over the wide region with ease.
There is also a technique for synthesizing and displaying the result of the analysis for the peripheral region of the optic nerve head and the result of the analysis for the region including the fovea centralis. However, since the two analysis results are based on the two pieces of data collected separately from one another, an error may be present between the analysis results and an error may occur in the registration of the analysis results. As the result of such errors, the accuracy of the result of the analysis may deteriorate.